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MSU

6 MSU students in running for awards

Kristen Daum
October 25, 2005

Six MSU seniors and a 2005 graduate have been nominated for the Marshall, Rhodes, and Mitchell Scholarships. Physiology and political science senior Farhan Bhatti, environmental sciences and management senior Jacob Phelps, and 2005 graduate William Sulton are being considered for the Rhodes Scholarship, which awards its recipients a chance to study at Oxford University in England. Marshall Scholarship nominees are chemical engineering senior Tim Howes, statistics senior Karl Rohe, history senior Shanti Zaid and Sulton.

MSU

Students deep clean Red Cedar

Laura Leebove
October 24, 2005

Dressed in a full-body wetsuit, neon green board shorts and flip-flops, zoology freshman Ryan O'Hagan heaved out the first of 28 bikes salvaged from the Red Cedar River during the fall river cleanup event hosted by the Fisheries & Wildlife Club on Sunday. The bike O'Hagan found was falling apart, its wheels had no spokes and it was covered in mud. Other items found in the river include thong underwear, three tables, a Target shopping cart, a bike rack with two bikes attached, a fire extinguisher, three purses, two vacuums and two wallets. One of the purses was still intact with everything in it, so someone called the owner and she came to pick it up, said fisheries and wildlife junior Chris Homeister. "You never know what you're going to find," said Homeister, also a member of the Fisheries & Wildlife Club and an event coordinator. Students started arriving at around 9:30 a.m.

MSU

See City Council hopefuls tonight

Melissa Domsic
October 24, 2005

With about two weeks left to decide who to vote for during the Nov. 8 East Lansing City Council election, the four candidates will meet on campus tonight to answer questions at a student-organized forum. ASMSU is hosting the event, which is at 7 p.m.

MSU

Student leaders push for higher education funding

Melissa Domsic
October 24, 2005

As part of their push for more higher education funding, members of ASMSU are coordinating a round-table discussion with state government officials and students from Michigan's 15 public universities in November. "The round table will be the start of a yearlong campaign to bring awareness of the financial situation of higher education in Michigan," said Julielyn Gibbons, director of legislative affairs for ASMSU's Student Assembly.

MSU

Campaign elicits traffic on Web

Vague messages across campus are asking students, "Everything seems OK on the outside. But how are you really feeling?" The advertisements have been appearing almost everywhere this week — on fliers, the rock on Farm Lane and on sashes worn by students in animal costumes. The messages include a Web site, www.EverySpartan.com, but don't say who created it. Campus Crusade for Christ created the campaign but didn't place the organization's name on the advertisements.

MSU

MSU supervisors honored for being good to employees

Fredricka Paul
October 21, 2005

Five MSU supervisors were recognized throughout the last two weeks for being dedicated to their employees. The MSU Supervisor Recognition Award was started five years ago as a way to recognize supervisors on campus who have made a difference in their employees' lives, said Lori Strom, Family Resource Center coordinator.

MSU

$320K in taxes fuels RHA programs

Kristen Daum
October 21, 2005

The Residence Halls Association takes in about $320,000 per semester in student tax dollars and uses this money for hall governments and most RHA programs on campus, including Campus Center Cinemas in Wells Hall and movie rental offices. The about 15,000 students who live in the dorms pay the Residence Halls Association, or RHA, $22 per semester. "The tax money is our main source (of income), and the majority of the money goes to programs for students," RHA Comptroller Bobby Codd said. Owen Graduate Hall is the only dorm where residents are not required to pay the tax, Codd said.

MSU

ASMSU: $1.6M should go to financial aid

Melissa Domsic
October 20, 2005

After a long, heated debate Tuesday, ASMSU's Academic Assembly voted to recommend setting aside $1.6 million from MSU's state appropriation to financial aid. Originally, MSU planned to return the money to students as an energy fee rebate. At ASMSU's retreat this weekend, Provost Kim Wilcox asked for suggestions by Friday on how to spend the money, representatives said.

MSU

First responders plan for train crisis

Margaret Harding
October 20, 2005

Area emergency responders prepared for the possibility of a train derailment on campus Wednesday, even though officials agreed it would be an unlikely event. "The chances of a train derailment with the release of chemicals is the same as if you have a child play in the NFL," said Joe Tupa, a manager with hazardous materials and field services for CSX Corp.

MSU

Groups to hold cultural, historical festivities

In an effort to provide more cultural opportunities during MSU's homecoming festivities, the Black Student Alliance, or BSA, and the African American Celebratory are holding several events this week. The festivities, called the African American Homecoming, will include events such as discussions, a jazz night and a semiformal dance. The theme for the week is "98/89", which represents the 98 years since Myrtle Craig became the first black female graduate of Michigan Agricultural College — MSU's former name — in 1907. It also represents the May 1989 study-in, when several black students took over the Administration Building for 10 days to present administrators with a list of 36 demands pertaining to racial incidents on campus, history senior and BSA member at large Geneva Thomas said. Many black students frequently return home on weekends or attend other university homecoming events at other schools, such as Howard University in Washington, D.C., Thomas said. "People go home every weekend, and homecoming is not an exception," she said.

MSU

MSU wireless catching up to statewide trend

Melissa Domsic
October 19, 2005

During the summer, MSU computing officials installed about 300 wireless access points in campus buildings. Now, there are about 500 total wireless access points in 40 buildings around campus. "We went nuts this summer," said Tom Davis, director of Academic Computing & Network Services.

MSU

Council debates task forces for faculty voice

Laura Collins
October 19, 2005

The heated discussions that ensued during Tuesday's Faculty Council meeting were the best Dan Barnhizer said he has ever witnessed. "This is the most debate I have seen on any issue," said Barnhizer, an adjunct associate professor with the MSU College of Law. Back-and-forth debates took up the majority of the time at the meeting, which dealt with the composition and voting rights of the Faculty Voice task forces — based off the report of the same name. The Faculty Voice report, written last year, looked at concerns regarding the lack of faculty involvement in university decisions.

MSU

ASMSU analyzes student concerns at 3-day retreat

Melissa Domsic
October 18, 2005

At their retreat last weekend, ASMSU members discussed ideas for working on problems they deemed "hot issues" for students. Members talked about adding specific criteria to professors' policies on canceling class in bad weather, said Robert Murphy, ASMSU's Academic Assembly chairperson. "Sometimes the university remains open when it's dangerous for it to do so," Murphy said. Representatives also are interested in adding a fall break to the university schedule, he said.

MSU

Homecoming celebration returns to tradition with campus bonfire

Bob Darrow
October 18, 2005

MSU's sesquicentennial, a 16-month-long celebration of the university's 150th anniversary, has left its mark on this year's homecoming festivities. The sesquicentennial committee has revived another campus tradition for homecoming week — a bonfire for students and community members — and the Oct.

MSU

StateWalk sees low demand

Melissa Domsic
October 18, 2005

Four days a week, three or more students spend five hours in a small room in the Main Library, waiting to accompany students who want to be walked home. But in the last few years, not many students have come. Alpha Phi Omega, a coed service fraternity, created StateWalk more than 15 years ago to offer a safe alternative to walking home alone late at night. The fraternity regained control of StateWalk in 2002, after the program had spent more than a decade under the Residence Halls Association.

MSU

MSU history featured on campus hayride

Bob Darrow
October 17, 2005

Community members will have the opportunity to tour MSU's campus from a seat on a bale of hay this evening. "Hayrides and History," an annual tradition teaching facts and trivia about MSU's history, kicks off a variety of campus activities planned for homecoming week. The hayrides will include complimentary hot chocolate, kettle corn and other giveaways. The event, sponsored by the University Activities Board, begins at 6:15 p.m.

MSU

Study: Women open to bisexuality

A recently released study suggests women, in particular those in their late teens and early 20s, experiment more and are more open about same-sex encounters than men. According to the survey, which was conducted in 2002 but released this year by the Centers for Disease Control's National Center for Health Statistics, 11.5 percent of the 7,643 women ages 18 to 44 who were interviewed said they have had at least one sexual experience with another woman. Among those surveyed were 4,923 men, and 6 percent in their late teens and 20s said they have had a same-sex encounter. The CDC used 12,571 in-person interviews, and all participants volunteered and used audio and computer-assisted, self-interviewing. Sociology graduate student Julie Hartman said the numbers exhibited for men indicate a large social trend that is occurring. "I would hope that over time, men will be able to express themselves the same and have the same freedom," she said.